Matching Pairs English language timelineOnline version Match the events to the times - if you are not sure, guess! by Ruth North 1 1066 2 1755 3 1977 4 From the 19th century to the 1930s 5 By 1000 AD 6 The 20th Century 7 In the 1100s 8 From 449 AD 9 From 55 BC 10 1980s onwards 11 1948 12 1500 onwards 13 1476 14 1828 15 From the 1800s 16 By 400 BC 17 1380s 18 From 793 AD 19 From the 1600s until the late 1800s 20 1611 The Normans invade England under William the Conqueror. Norman French is established as the language of the ruling classes and Anglo-Saxon is relegated to the lower classes. Jewish, Polish and other Eastern European peoples flee persecution in Russia and Germany. Many come to England but even more cross the Atlantic to America. The Industrial Revolution brings new technical and social words to English. More widespread education means that writers of popular fiction like Charles Dickens have a readership. Old English has developed from Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse. Literature in this language flourishes. Crusaders returning from what is now the Middle East bring back Arabic words amid the spoils of war. Words such as damask, assassin, divan and kiosk enter English. The Voyager spacecraft takes a message in English out beyond our solar system. Celtic languages are spoken all over the islands of Britain and Ireland After the Americas are discovered, the British Empire begins to expand throughout the world. Through commerce, war, invasion and the slave trade, words from Native American, Australian, Maori, Chinese and African languages enter English. Viking raids begin in earnest with the sacking of monasteries in Northumberland. Over the next 250 years Old Norse elements of language become blended with Anglo-Saxon. English continues to spread as a global language thanks to the internet and cyberspace. It becomes more common as a second language in India and parts of Africa. The technological revolution brings thousands of new words such as telephone, microchip, computer and aerospace into the language. Telecommunications, the entertainment industry and war bring American English to the world: English becomes a global language. Noah Webster’s American English dictionary is published, showing that two dialects are emerging: American English and British English. The Empire Windrush arrives at Tilbury carrying 492 passengers from Jamaica wishing to start a new life in the United Kingdom. The Romans land in Britain and soon colonise the islands. The ruling classes of Britain adopt Latin as an additional language. Some Latin place names are adopted. The King James Bible is published in English. Invasions of peoples from Northern Europe begin: Jutes, Angles and Saxons, speaking Germanic languages known as Anglo-Saxon. Celtic words are gradually replaced. Dr Samuel Johnson writes and publishes his dictionary, which standardises English spelling. The Bible is translated into English by John Wyclif. He uses the dialect used in London, helping this to become accepted as the standard. The interest in the learning of ancient Rome and Greece during the Renaissance leads to words of Latin and Greek origin entering English. William Caxton introduces the printing press.
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